The interview of the former White House lawyer under Trump, Pat Cipollone, with the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot yielded “a lot of relevant information” for the panel, although he claimed privileges in some areas, he said Sunday. a member of the Committee.
“He claimed the privilege of advice-related conversations that he provided directly to the president or conversations with the president,” Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fl) said in an interview with Meet the Press. “But I think we got a lot of relevant information from him, and it gives us another perspective on what was going on in the White House in those weeks leading up to January 6 that were critically important.”
Cipollone met with the panel on Friday for more than eight hours. He agreed to appear for a transcribed interview after the Committee subpoenaed him late last month. “I think there was a lot of information that fits into this larger puzzle that we’re putting together,” Murphy said. “And we have different voices telling about the same meeting, and more or less telling the same narrative.” ”The general message that we have gathered from all these witnesses is that the president knew that he had lost the election, or that his advisers had told him that he had lost the election, and that he was looking for ways in which he could retain power and remain president,” he added.
As the top White House lawyer, Cipollone could be a key source of information on attempts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In her shocking public testimony last month, for example, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said Cipollone warned of legal culpability if Trump came to Capitol Hill with supporters on Jan. 6.
It’s unclear what new information the House committee will present, but it reportedly concluded it has enough evidence to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department recommending charges against the former president.
